Yosemite National Park partially closes after visitors poop on road during government shutdown
By Ella Torres
| NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
Jan 01, 2019
This government shutdown really stinks.
Parts of California’s Yosemite National Park were forced to close after visitors began using the side of the road as a toilet. Bathrooms in the park haven’t been open since the partial shutdown of the federal government began on Dec. 22.
Hetch Hetchy and Mariposa Grove were among the areas that closed “due to lack of restrooms and resulting impacts from human waste,†the park announced Sunday.
With little staff to tend to Yosemite, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behaviors have also slammed the scenic region.
"It's a free-for-all," Dakota Snider, 24, who lives and works in Yosemite Valley, told the Associated Press. "It's so heartbreaking. There is more trash and human waste and disregard for the rules than I've seen in my four years living here.â€
In past years, the parks have closed during a government shutdown. However the Trump administration chose to keep them open to visitors despite lack of staff -- a decision that may have lasting effects.
“We're afraid that we're going to start seeing significant damage to the natural resources in parks and potentially to historic and other cultural artifacts," John Garder, senior budget director of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association, told the Associated Press. "We're concerned there'll be impacts to visitors' safety. It's really a nightmare scenario."
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